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I tried lining my compost bucket with biobags and just found that they leaked. At the end of a hot L.A. day, there was a considerable amount of stinky compost juice that was at the bottom of my compost bucket. Technically, it was just a large pot that I used for gathering kitchen scraps, so I wasn't really composting. But I thought you might want to know about potential leakage.

Dog/cat hair is also compostable and god knows I have enough of that

As far as the "brown" materials for compost (dry leaves, etc.), you can use coffee grounds (Starbucks will often supply used coffee grounds for the asking) or newspapers (which, really, you just can't beat). Coffee grounds help suppress any smells.

I keep brown paper from... anywhere they give it to me. I have a big pile of it in a bag and I line the compost pail with it. I also take a chunk out when I am preparing meals and put it in a bowl, then I can throw my scraps on the paper and in the end throw it into the pail.

Coffee_I personally don't add much of the coffee grounds. The reason is that I read that it adds acidity, and that if you're adding the 'coffeeish' compost to the garden, this could start shifting your soil pH that way.

Paper_I used to add paper, but even cut up, it would take much longer to compost than anything else -- at least where it balled up (which was a lot). Even using worms. But maybe others have different experiences.

For whatever it's worth, I'm a certified Master Composter here in Alameda County.

I keep flies out of my kitchen compost just be using a two gallon storage container with an airtight lid.

If you need to add carbon to a compost bin then newspaper is a good way. For small apartments, a worm bin is a good alternative to a compost bin.

I don't recommend biobags for home composting. They are biodegradable, but they decompose very slowly except at high temperatures that most home compost bins can't reach. They're really intended to be put into green bins and taken to municipal composting facilities.

I find pouring water to about 1cm deep at the bottom of the container can minimise some pests. I usually do this when I empty the container.

Interesting comment on the effect of coffee on the soil pH. Here I have alkaline soil so maybe my coffee habit will help to condition the soil to a better pH for the plants. That said, I've seen no major change in soil pH over more than a year of composting coffee, so I'd say its probably safe even if your soil is neutral or acidic. Most plants like a slightly acidic soil anyway since it makes most nutrients more available.

N.B. I have never had issues with maggots, though my container is sealed if the lid is put on properly, and flies hardly ever get inside the house.

Ok here is food for thought though. One of the reasons frozen food can be so dry and nasty is the ice crystals that form in cells when frozen are sharp and can rupture cell membranes. Perhaps the whole idea of freezing compost like in the other thread may have a plus side to it?

Just a thought.

You can now add meat scraps to the green bins in the City of Berkeley. This has changed the entire ecosystem of the green bin project in my complex. We had a lot of maggots and aweful smells this summer. The project has been cancelled.

For my part, I hope to save my "soup broth" vegetable scraps in the freezer (a tip from a friend) and add tea/ coffee grounds directly to the garden.

rahlquist, freezing definitely helps break down organic material. even better it to alternate freeze/thaw over and over again. It is a method I use to strip and clean animal bones (I am a biologist that works on bones... not a freak:)

digger61 - Although the coffee grounds give off acid as they are breaking down, the finished compost will be neutral, so long as your bin isn't more than 25% coffee grounds. (I guess it could well be, if you've got a small bin and hit up Sbux.) Same goes for oak leaves.

I'm a bit late, but... Thank you *whytephoenix* -- I have wondered how valid the coffee-acidity idea was, or how much coffee I could get away with without spoiling the mix. __And good reminder on the oak leaves.

I found a good solution to no flies in the kitchen is to take the compost out everyday. Perhaps not terribly handy if you don't have your own outside bin.

If I'm baking a pie from scratch I'll line my "trash bowl" with a bio bag and toss that whole thing in the composter in my mom's backyard. In late August it's not uncommon to see temps around 107 here, so I can only imagine that a black compost bin in the sun is getting satisfyingly (for the compost) hot inside.

There's a restaurant here (Snappy Salads) that uses compostable/biodegradable plastics exclusively and I had a water cup start to disintegrate in my couple holder over the summer. So we know that works.

Good to know about the Coffee and the pH, thanks!


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